Moon will meet Trump in June
President Moon Jae-in looks on as Hong Seok-hyun, right, presidential special envoy to the United States, makes remarks during a luncheon meeting with other envoys at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Tuesday. Third from right is Rep. Moon Hee-sang of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, who will be sent to Japan. / Korea Times photo by Koh Young-kwon
Special envoys will leave for 4 nations as early as Wednesday
By Jun Ji-hye
President Moon Jae-in will hold his first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington in late June, Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday.
Senior officials of the two countries reached an agreement in principle during a meeting at the presidential office in Seoul.
Chung Eui-yong, the former permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, who now leads Cheong Wa Dae’ security team, met with Matt Pottinger, the senior director for East Asia at the National Security Council (NSC).
“The two agreed to hold additional discussions through diplomatic channels to fine-tune the details of the summit,” said Moon’s chief press secretary Yoon Young-chan at a press briefing. “The two sides will prepare to make the upcoming summit at a venue in which the two heads can tighten their bond.”
Chung and Pottinger also discussed other challenging issues including North Korea’s nuclear threats, the presidential office said. In the latest in a series of provocations Sunday, the Kim Jong-un regime test-fired a new type of ballistic missile, and later claimed the missile was “capable of carrying a large-size heavy nuclear warhead” and reaching the U.S. mainland.
Yoon said the two officials agreed that their ultimate goal was the complete disposal of North Korean nuclear weapons.
“They also agreed to mobilize all available means, including sanctions and dialogue,” he said, adding that the U.S. official reaffirmed Washington’s strong commitment to the security and defense of South Korea.
Before holding talks with Chung, Pottinger paid a courtesy call on President Moon and had talks for about seven minutes during which he delivered a congratulatory message from Trump.
Later in the day, Pottinger also talked with Deputy Minister for Political Affairs Lee Jeong-kyu at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Pottinger told reporters that he talked with South Korean officials about the controversial deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here.
He said the THAAD installation has been already decided on based on the Seoul-Washington alliance and that he expects the two countries to keep talking to each other.
Pottinger arrived in Seoul, Monday, as part of a U.S. delegation that also included Allison Hooker, director for Korea at the NSC, after Trump vowed to dispatch his White House aides to consult on the schedule of the summit in a phone conversation with Moon on the latter’s inaugural day, May 10.
Experts have said Moon’s timely dialogue with Trump is more important than ever to avoid Seoul’s further diplomatic isolation at a time when the United States and China have been moving together to curb North Korean threats.
The need for the summit has been especially growing as Moon had shown negative views throughout his campaign about the former government’s push for the THAAD deployment and Trump’s abrupt call on Seoul to pay $1 billion for the system.
As part of efforts to overcome other diplomatic challenges facing the new government, Moon’s special envoys to the U.S., China, Japan, Russia and Europe will leave for each country as early as today.
Moon had lunch with the five at Cheong Wa Dae, during which the president said the dispatch of the special envoys will mark the beginning of “summit diplomacy.”
Hong Seok-hyun, former chairman of the JoongAng Media Network, was named special envoy to the U.S., while former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan will head to China. Reps. Moon Hee-sang and Song Young-gil of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea are going to Japan and Russia, respectively. Cho Yoon-je, a professor at Sogang University, will embark on a trip to the European Union and Germany.
The presidential office noted that Hong will carry Moon’s handwritten letter, saying his delegation is expected to meet with Trump.
With China and Russia, Moon also needs to solve the THAAD issue as the two countries have been strongly opposed to the installation, claiming the system will seriously harm the strategic balance in Northeast Asia and incite further tension.
Regarding Japan, Moon faces complicated issues such as a disputed bilateral deal on “comfort women” and sharing military intelligence.